Iraq's top Shi'ite calls on Baghdad to help Sunni tribes after killings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric called on the government on Friday to rush to the aid of Sunni tribes battling Islamic State, after the militant group executed at least 220 tribesmen west of Baghdad this week.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's comments show how the threat posed by Islamic State, which follows an ultra-hardline version of Sunni Islam, has pushed some Shi'ites and Sunnis to overcome their sectarian differences and face a common enemy.